


Inn and Out

by BrownieSnivy



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: M/M, Memory World Alternative Versions of These Characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-20
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-06-13 12:40:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15364920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrownieSnivy/pseuds/BrownieSnivy
Summary: Two lonely souls on opposite ends of the inn can be brought together with enough help from a particularly nosey, overly-concerned brother.





	Inn and Out

**Author's Note:**

> This story has a lot of exposition. I just wanted to build the lives of all these characters around each other before I got to the actual plot, which is super cheesy by the way. Also, I named Weevil "Khepri" and so did Helenadorf on tumblr with her fanart for this day's AU. Complete coincidence. Great minds think alike, I guess. Alright, enough out of me, here's the book.

After a hard day in the fields, Abu thought he deserved a break.  That’s why as soon as the sun started to set, Abu and his brother would go into the town and live a little. There was an inn on the outskirts of town that was often completely booked up with merchants from across the Mediterranean Sea as far away as Greece, and those guys **certainly** knew how to have a good time.

Yafeu had a lot more luck making friends then his brother; he was just a more socially gifted person. He was always buddying around with some soldier guy Remi, and they always ate a bunch of food and sometimes got super wasted. Yafeu was lucky he wasn’t dead by now, considering how many fights he and Remi picked when they got a little buzzed. Lucky was definitely one word everyone used to describe the light-haired farmer. He **always** beat Abu in dice, every single time. Sometimes he even beat Shadeed, and dice was his entire gimmick.

Abu didn’t know much about Remi or Shadeed except that they were Yafeu’s friends, and that was really all he wanted to know. He knew that Remi was a bold soldier who was respected among his regiment, and that Shadeed was some sort of swordsmith (as indicated by his constant humble bragging about the artistry of his weapons) but other than being really pretty Abu couldn’t glean much more about his character.

When Abu visited the inn with Yafeu, it wasn’t long before he would find his friends and leave his little brother in the dust. The innkeeper, who Abu hadn’t bothered to try to learn the name of but had heard was named Jasmin, was pretty nice to the short farmer but didn’t seem to have any vested interest in him. That was a common theme in Abu’s social pursuits: He’s nice and we like him, we just don’t want to be seen with him.

After ordering some food and maybe some wine, Abu would find a table and eat. Usually he would ease dropping in on some merchant’s conversation as he dined to keep himself from getting too bored. The inn was definitely better than the fields, but it never really felt as lively to Abu as it seemed to everybody else there.

Almost everybody else, that is.

Across the room there was a scribe in a similar situation. Khepri was not just a socially awkward person like Abu, he was flat-out antisocial. Any attempts to talk to him were incredibly unproductive, because he simply didn’t want to talk to anyone.

Like Abu, Khepri also had a brother, an astronomer named Mes. Mes was friendly, but had trouble expressing his thoughts. Despite his shortcomings, he had managed to make a friend in the fisherman Nane. The two never got into any trouble, they simply sat down at a table and chatted while the rest of the inn filled up with lunatics.

Khepri knew more than he had ever intended to about his brother’s fisherman friend. Mes was always talking about things that he had said or did even when they were apart (which was often since Nane fished in the Mediterranean, so there were long periods of time where the two couldn’t see each other), and it drove Khepri up the wall. Nane seemed to be a lover of adventure who was very loyal to his friends and passionate about his interests. He fit squarely into Khepri’s category of least favorite type of person.

Sometimes, Mes would try to make his brother feel included by inviting him over to sit with them and trying to involve him in their conversation. Even when Khepri agreed to come over, their attempts to socialize with him never got very far.

Nane often talked about his exploits on the wide-open sea, reciting tall tales about huge catches and encounters with pirates and thieves while sailing. It definitely sounded like a stressful life both Khepri and Mes could agree was not up their alley. Nane even boasted that since he was self-employed, selling fish on the market as his own boss, he could sail anywhere in the world he liked whenever he desired. Apparently, he even got visit other countries rather frequently.

Khepri only knew two other people who frequented the inn. There was Ahd, who was also a scribe in the Pharaoh’s court. She and Khepri had studied together at about the same time, and even though she was significantly younger than him, she matched him in intelligence and wit. She was quite impressive, he could admit, that didn’t mean he liked her much. She was too feisty and snarky, and she often fought with the innkeeper, but the two women both seemed to consider each other friends.  

Jasmin seemed like she might be the only sane person in the entire establishment. Even though Khepri thought her spunky attitude was aggravating and her attempts to socialize with him when he was just ordering food were pitiful, he couldn’t help but admire how she stayed calm under pressure and was able to fearlessly rush in and break-up any drunken fights that started. The inn would be complete chaos if it wasn’t for her.

Even if the scribe knew the names, occupations, and demeanors of some of the inn’s customers, that didn’t mean he had any interest in getting to know any of them. In fact, he hoped he could go the rest of his life without learning the anything else about the other resident in town.

Unfortunately, Mes had other ideas.

The astronomer had noted that his brother got nothing out of sitting with him and Nane, but he still couldn’t help but feel obligated to help him somehow. For how aloof and sometimes even mean Khepri was towards his brother at times, Mes wanted to help out. Of course, it had occurred to the blue-haired astronomer that perhaps his brother didn’t need help, and that maybe he was perfectly happy being antisocial. Then again, he didn’t seem very happy, and the only plausible reason Mes could think of was because he was lonely.

Mes decided to bring this up in conversation with Nane one day, “I feel like I should do something to help my brother make friends.”

“I do not think that is something you should do.” Nane warned his friend, “He does not seem to desire friendship.”

“I think it’s for his own good, though!” Mes argued, “He always looks so miserable and angry!”

Nane replied, “Do you think anybody here wants to have to deal with that? No offense to your brother, but he is kind of a wreck. I do not think anyone here would want to make friends with him unless they absolutely **had** to.”

Mes thought about that for a moment, “Then I guess I’ll have to think up a reason for them to have to.”

Nane sighed, “You really are intent on playing matchmaker, aren’t you?”

Mes had already formulated a plan in his head on how to get his brother in some decent company. Step one: invite Khepri to sit with them. Step two: find someone who Mes vaguely knew and get into a conversation with them, thereby dragging Khepri into the talk as well.  It was a simple plan, but one that Mes felt would be highly successful.

“I’m going to invite Khepri over here.” Mes explained, “Then we’re going to go talk to Yafeu over there, got it?”

Nane nodded reluctantly, clearly not convinced this was a good idea. Yafeu was a friend of Nane’s, and he had introduced Mes to him a while back. They seemed to get along alright, but the astronomer was turned off by the light-haired soldier’s boisterous behavior.

“Hello, brother.” Mes approached Khepri, who was staring out a window and looking at the stars, “Would you like to come over and sit with Nane and I?”

Khepri groaned, “Why are you so insistent on me getting to know your stupid friend? Can’t you see I’m trying to think here?”

“I just think it’s good for you to know the company I’m keeping.” Mes nudged his brother’s shoulder, “Come on, it’ll be better than sitting alone by yourself.”

“I doubt that.” Despite that statement, Khepri did as Mes suggested; picking up his plate and following his brother over to where Nane was sitting.

“Greetings, Khepri. How do you do?” Nane asked politely.

Khepri didn’t answer, instead putting his food down and sitting next to Mes without a word.

“Nane was telling me a story about when he watched a merchant ship get raided by pirates near Morocco.” Mes said awkwardly to his brother, “It sounds to me like there’s no justice out on the open sea.”

Nane nodded in solemn agreement, “It is a wild place.”

Khepri just rolled his eyes uninterestedly.

Mes was having no success with getting Khepri to talk to Nane, so he began to search the crowd for Yafeu. He quickly spotted the light-haired farmer and his friends talking to Jasmin and Ahd at the counter.

“Hey, is that Yafeu?” Mes asked his sailor friend, trying his best to sound casual, “I haven’t talked to him in a long time.”

Nane nodded awkwardly, clearly suffering from performance anxiety trying to make his words not sound forced, “Neither have I. You know, we should go talk to him.”

The two friends stood up in unison, acutely aware of how suspicious that looked. “You coming, Khepri?” The astronomer asked his brother.

The blue-haired scribe groaned, “Whatever.”

The fisherman waved to the group, and Rami quickly noticed the three coming over in their direction, “Hey, Yafeu, don’t you know that guy?”

The farmer looked up and over in the direction his friend was pointing, “Well well! If it isn’t my buddy Nane!” Yafeu ran over to his friend to shake his hand, “What’s up with you these days? It’s been months!”

Nane shrugged, “I have been out on the water, the usual.”

Shadeed looked down at Mes, “You’re Mes, right?”

The astronomer nodded, “Correct! This is my brother, Khepri. I believe I mentioned him last time we talked?”

The black-haired swordsmith looked behind Mes at his slightly shorter brother and tried to wave. Khepri returned the gesture with an eye roll.

Jasmin had leaned over the counter to greet the scribe, who was kind of standing in the middle of his two companions as they talked. The brunet smiled, “Is your brother trying to get you to open up or something?”

Internally, Khepri was surprised that the woman understood his predicament, but externally he didn’t show it, “He’s not subtle.” He replied simply.

From beside the blue-haired man, Ahd chimed in and offered her two coins on the conversation, “Neither are you, you know! You make quite the fuss about being a jerk.”

Khepri glared at his coworker, “Shut up! This is about Mes, not me!”

Jasmin nodded with understanding, “He’s just trying to help you, you know.”

The scribe scoffed and crossed his arms, “I don’t need help. I can take care of myself.”

“He’s your older brother.” Jasmin continued, “It’s only natural he’d try to cheer you up if you looked down.”

“If I were him,” Ahd commented gruffly, “I’d just give up.”

Khepri bit his lip and answered Jasmin as if Ahd hadn’t said a word, “Do you not think I realize that? How stupid do you think I am?”

The innkeeper sighed, “Every time someone talks to you, they aren’t necessarily trying to pick a fight. Stop assuming the worst in everything.”

The blue-haired scribe turned away from her, “This conversation is stupid. Go talk to somebody else!”

The light-haired scribe snapped back on behalf of the innkeeper, “Fine! She will!”

Khepri knew that if Mes didn’t see him conversing with someone, he’d never let it go, so he turned to Nane and Yafeu so he could pretend to listen to them.

“Wow, that’s really impressive, man!” Yafeu congratulated the fisherman, “Nothing that exciting ever happens on the farm.”

Nane chuckled, “Farmers are the backbone of Egyptian society, you know. Do not forget your own importance.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Yafeu nodded quickly, “I just wish Abu and I didn’t have to take care of Mom and Dad’s old farm. Then I’d go out and get an exciting job. I could be a soldier like Remi!”

Remi interrupted the conversation briefly to make his own comment, “You’re two dense to follow commander’s orders! You’d make a terrible soldier!”

“Shut up!” Yafeu snapped back, “Go talk to somebody else!”

“Is this ‘Abu’ a sibling of yours?” Nane asked, “Are they here right now?”

Yafeu nodded, “He’s over near the door.” The farmer gestured over to a short, brown and purple haired man, “That’s him.”

Apparently, something about what Yafeu had just said got the attention of Mes, because the astronomer whipped his head away from his conversation with Shadeed to look at the light-haired farmer.

“He looks awfully lonely.” Mes said, his voice laced with some sort of agenda, “Does anybody ever talk to him?”

Khepri instantly knew what his brother was insinuating. “I’m not talking to him, and nothing anyone can say or do will convince me otherwise.”

Yafeu tilted his head, “Nyeh? Why do you say that?”

Remi pointed at Mes, “This little rascal seems to think his brother needs help making friends.” Mes rubbed the back of his head and blushed, laughing nervously.

Khepri glared at the astronomer, “You are the worst, Mes! Get your nose out of my business!”

Mes threw his hands up defensively, “I’m just trying to help you!”

“Everybody I have ever met, I haven’t liked!” Khepri pointed across the counter at Ahd, who seemed rather startled to have four men’s attention diverted onto her.

“What’s happening?” She asked loudly, “Why is everybody looking at me?”

“I have known her for years, and I still don’t like her even a bit!”

“Are you calling me out or something?” Ahd cried, “You’re such a jerk, Khepri!”

The scribe snorted indignantly, “I never asked for any help! I just want to be left alone, got it?”

Before anybody could say anything to Khepri, he had already turned away and was about storm out the door, but he was stopped by somebody grabbing his arm.

It was Abu.

“Um, sorry.” The brunet quickly released the scribe from his grip, “I, uh, just wanted to apologize for, uh, being here. You know, because that weird guy tried to make you talk to me…?”

Khepri glared at him, “And so now you’re talking to me? **Smooth.** ” Abu began to fiddle with his fingers awkwardly, “How do you even know about that anyway?”

“I have a habit of eavesdropping on other people’s conversations.” The farmer admitted.

“Pathetic.” Khepri shot back, “Are you really that desperate for socialization?”

Abu shrugged, “I guess. So in that regard, I suppose I should thank you for talking to me.”

It was right then that Khepri realized that he had done exactly what Mes was trying to make him do. Growling in frustration, the scribe turned tail and ran out of the inn.

Abu was left there, blinking in confusion. Yafeu and his group had approached him from behind, and the brunet turned to face them.

“So sorry about that!” Mes bowed apologetically, “Please forgive me!”

Abu didn’t really know what to say, so he opted to nod at the astronomer.

“You are Yafeu’s brother, correct?” The tall older man reached out his hand, “It is nice to meet you.”

Abu took his hand and smiled. Maybe there was still hope for him socially after all.

It was a long time until Khepri decided to show his face at the inn again, and when he showed up again he was instantly greeted by a familiar face.

“Hey, scribe boy.” Abu said with a smirk, putting his arm around Khepri, a gesture which the blue-haired man resented greatly and shoved away. “Sorry about last time. Promise it won’t happen again!”

“You **literally** just touched me again, you hypocrite!” Khepri snapped back, “And I thought we agreed that we shouldn’t have to talk to each other again.”

“I don’t remember saying that.” Abu admitted.

“It was implied!” Khepri scoffed, “Do you not remember apologizing to me?”

Abu shrugged, “Well, I talked it over with your brother and his friend while you were away, and Mes seems to think I’m just the person you need in your life. He’s pretty nice, so I figured I could do him a solid as a friend.”

Khepri snarled back, “Why on earth does he think **you** could help **me**?”

“I don’t know.” Abu replied blankly, “But we might as well give it a go, right?”

Everything in Khepri told him he should say no. His mind, his heart, his body… but for some reason he couldn’t bring himself to refuse this ridiculous proposal. Maybe it was to make his brother finally give it a rest, maybe it was Jasmin’s talk with him, maybe it was that he secretly did want somebody to confide him, Khepri didn’t really know.

But when he reluctantly said, “Sure, whatever,” and agreed to go eat with the farmer, he didn’t end up regretting it.

**Author's Note:**

> Cliffhanger? Yes, I know, I suck. But I'll just let you know a kick-ass friendship comes out of this arrangement. One thing I worried about when writing this was Mes. As an introvert, sometimes I know how frustrating it is for your family to try to force yo to get more friends, and I was worried it's make Mes seem annoying. But then again, that's exactly how it is in real life right? And even if it gets on your nerves, they're only doing it because they care about you. So I decided to keep it this way. Hope you enjoyed my little fic!


End file.
